Beyond Expectations
by AngryCupcake
Summary: Sequal to 'Beyond Limitations.' Crossover with Saved By the Bell.


Title: Beyond Expectations (1/?)  
  
Author: AngryCupcake  
  
Pairing: Willow/Zack Morris  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns BTVS and Willow. Same goes for Peter  
  
Angel Owning Zack and Saved By The Bell. I lay no claim. I make no  
  
cash. Don't sue me.  
  
Spoilers: Set in season 2 of BTVS goes AU after the Halloween may  
  
change). Oz? Oz who? SBTB is harder. Lord knows they spent like six  
  
years in high school. I guess it's set in Zack's junior year. No  
  
spoilers.  
  
Summary: I'm bad at summaries, sorry.  
  
A/N: Sequal to 'Beyond Limitations'. Dedicated to all you crazy kids  
  
who asked for a series and asked questions that made me think. Also  
  
my semester is currently drawing to a close meaning I'm pretty much  
  
bogged down with work so don't expect anything else for another 3-4  
  
weeks. Fair warning.  
  
Feedback: Please  
  
Part1  
  
Richard Belding walked about the empty corridors of Bayside High  
  
School. The students were in class and all was silent. The only  
  
sounds audible were the soft click clacking of his shoes echoing off  
  
the walls; it was comforting. He wandered the halls because he'd  
  
rather do that than attempt to put a dent in the mounds of paperwork  
  
awaiting him on his desk. The school principal was restless. Willow  
  
had phoned him a few minutes prior about details concerning her  
  
impending visit and now Richard was practically giddy. It was silly  
  
really considering that Willow had been making regular visitations  
  
for the past three months, but he couldn't help it. With no children  
  
of his own, Willow was the closest thing he and Liz had to it. She  
  
was such a joy to have around he could almost kiss Sheila for  
  
allowing her to visit. Almost.  
  
Up until a few months ago Richard didn't know she had even existed,  
  
thanks to his sweet little sister. The Sheila Belding he knew was a  
  
warm bubbly redhead much like the niece he had now practically  
  
adopted. That all changed when she went to college and met Ira  
  
Rosenberg. After all these years that man's name still brought out a  
  
fury in Richard. Ira Rosenberg took his baby sister away. All of the  
  
sudden the family that had raised her, hell scrimped, saved, and  
  
sacrificed so she could attend Harvard was simply not good enough.  
  
Her rejection nearly killed their parents. He hated her for that, for  
  
the pain she had put them through. But as much as he would love to  
  
blame Ira, he knew his sister had made her choice. A choice that  
  
apparently took its toll.  
  
When Sheila had first appeared on his doorstep after all those years,  
  
he barely recognized her. She looked the same but different. Not the  
  
kind of different that would be attributed to age, it was something  
  
else. Sheila looked.harder. After their reunion, one marked with  
  
anger and resentment on his part, his sister went on to explain the  
  
point of her presence. That was another thing; she was so no-nonsense  
  
and unemotional. Richard couldn't believe that this was once the girl  
  
who launched sneak attack tickle fights on her unsuspecting older  
  
brothers. Putting his own emotions in check, Richard listened to her  
  
well thought out and logical proposal, and agreed to allow his  
  
sister's daughter to visit.  
  
When the official affairs were settled his sister made to leave as  
  
abruptly as she had arrived. Richard stopped her, he had to, things  
  
couldn't be left the way they were.  
  
"Sheila how are you?" he sincerely asked.  
  
Sheila froze a sigh escaping her. "I'm tired, Richard, very tired."  
  
"Can I ask why?"  
  
His sister looked at him with a frown on her face. "Why what?"  
  
"After all this time, why now?"  
  
"Richard my daughter is all I really have left. I'm not the mom she  
  
needs me to be. I stopped being that Sheila a long time ago." She  
  
said, "It's too late."  
  
"Lala it's never too late." He desperately implored her.  
  
Sheila gave a slight smile at the long disused nickname she had hated  
  
with a fiery passion. "It is for me. Not for my daughter though. I  
  
want her to have a few happy memories of family." She said  
  
wistfully. "Goodbye Richie."  
  
****  
  
As Belding neared his office, to tackle the neglected work he put  
  
off, a voice called out stopping him just a few feet from his  
  
office. "Sir can I talk to you for a minute."  
  
He turned around to see Zack Morris walking up to him. "Show me your  
  
hall pass first." The principal demanded.  
  
Zack dutifully pulled out a pink slip.  
  
The older man examined it carefully before handing it back to the  
  
teen. "Hmm it's a real hall pass too, I'm impressed. Alright Zack  
  
what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much," Zack said. "It's just that with Willow coming this  
  
week-end, I want to remind you that I'm you taking her to an  
  
Evanescence concert Saturday night."  
  
"What are you talking about? You never mentioned it before. Willow is  
  
going out of town with Mrs. Belding and me." The principal asserted.  
  
"Mr. Belding I told you about this ever since I got the tickets---  
  
"I'm just messing with you Zack." He interrupted. "I remember and  
  
have her back no later than 1 am. Oh and bring me back some Alka-  
  
Seltzer from the Effervescence concert HA HA HA." Mr. Belding laughed  
  
in a high-pitched tone.  
  
"Your just hysterical sir." The young man said humorlessly. "I'll  
  
have her back by one on the dot."  
  
The strangest thing about Zack's promise was that the principal  
  
believed him. When it came to the redhead Zack was very reliable. He  
  
had to be, Belding had set down strict guidelines: Eight Simple Rules  
  
For Dating His Teenage Niece. To the older man's astonishment Zack  
  
followed each and every single one of them to the exact letter.  
  
Evidently the young man had stronger feelings for Willow than Belding  
  
had initially given him credit for.  
  
Indeed when he first heard the news he nearly killed the boy. After  
  
all he had only `asked' Zack to show her around town not sweep her  
  
off her feet. The young man was her total opposite, not at all the  
  
sort of boy that Willow should be consorting with. As the king of his  
  
castle he tried to forbid it, but that fell flat under the combined  
  
weight of Willow's Resolve Face and Liz's Death Glare. So Richard  
  
Belding resigned himself to closely monitoring the relationship. He  
  
had feared that being with Zack would cause her to change into  
  
something not so Willowy. Surprisingly Zack was the one who was  
  
changing. Not that the schemer had become an angel, but since dating  
  
Willow, his detention attendance had somewhat decreased. If anything  
  
his niece proved be a positive influence on the young man.  
  
As the two men continued to talk, Belding did not notice Zack slowly  
  
angling him away from his office door so Jessie could quietly creep  
  
by to enter the room. So engrossed was he in the conversation that  
  
the principal failed to note the small squeak of locker cautiously  
  
opening behind him. Screech stepped out of it with his tools in hand  
  
and gave Zack a thumbs up sign before he too snuck into the office.  
  
"Well I've got paperwork with my name on them so I'll see you later."  
  
The principal made to move for his door but was surprised at how far  
  
away he was from it. Oh well he must have misjudged its  
  
proximity. "Zack I'll see you at dinner Friday night?" he queried.  
  
"Count on it Mr. Belding." He smiled.  
  
Mr. Belding smiled in return watching the student walk away before  
  
turning to his door. As soon as his hand touched the doorknob a shout  
  
drew his attention to a figure running toward him.  
  
"Mr. Belding! Mr. Belding!"  
  
"What wrong Big Pete?" he asked.  
  
"It's the chemistry lab. Something's gone wrong." The small young man  
  
panted.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"It's just. I mean. Mr. Belding you just have to see for yourself."  
  
Big Pete exclaimed.  
  
A principal's job was never done. "Alright let's go see what's going  
  
on." He said allowing the young man to take him to the site of the  
  
problem.  
  
***  
  
Zack Morris left his hiding place to watch Big Pete quickly rushed  
  
the man down the hall. He had to admit the geek did good work. The  
  
schemer smirked as he causally strolled into Richard Belding's office  
  
to join his friends already working in progress. 


End file.
